Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 

Go Back   Montana Owners Club - Keystone Montana 5th Wheel Forum > GENERAL DISCUSSIONS > General Discussions about our Montanas
Click Here to Login

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
 
Old 01-14-2012, 08:39 PM   #1
restez
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Billings
Posts: 155
M.O.C. #10477
Charger scare

Yesterday afternoon my wife came and told me that an alarm was going off in the 5th wheel. When I went to check it out I found that it was the carbon monoxide sensor under the fridge. Well I tried the lights and nothing, the batteries were dead. So I went to the front to inspect and found that my new Schlumberger battery tender had burned the positive wire apart and therefore the battery's were dead. Lucky it hadn't started a fire. I had the coach unplugged and had just the battery tender hooked up to the battery's to keep them charged over the winter. I don't like leaving the shore power plugged in because it tends to overcharge the battery's. I am now a little afraid to go back to the battery tender method for fear that the next time I may come home to a smoldering mess or maybe worse, with 2 propane bottles within inches of the battery's the whole neighborhood and us could be history. Do you think it was just a faulty charger or operator error?
I have 3 deep cycle battery's in the coach and I hooked the positive up to the 1st in the series and the negative to the last in the series. I am running 12 volt battery's. I have always used this method before and never had a problem. Thanks


 
restez is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2012, 02:04 AM   #2
Ozz
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
Maybe it was a loose connection, that will overheat a wire and burn it. Also, maybe the battery tender is not rated for the 3 batteries. It probably should have been on a 15 amp breaker, but often a wire will burn without tripping the breaker.
With a 'Charge Wizard' accessory, it (hte Converter) shouldn't overcharge the batteries. You should get the 3 stage charger accessory if you don't have one. Also keep checking the water in the batteries, it will boil out quicker than you think. With a dry battery, it could harm a battery tender also.
Good luck on it.
Ozz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2012, 10:14 AM   #3
sfish
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: bloomington
Posts: 540
M.O.C. #10234
I had mice chew threw the cord on mine a couple of years ago.I saw the shine on the cord and unplugged it before it was a problem.
sfish is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2012, 02:27 PM   #4
racerjoe
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: silver creek
Posts: 1,507
M.O.C. #7770
I have used the battery tender brand for several years without any problems. I think ozz is right that it can't handle 3 batteries. I bet if you contact them they would reply with the same. They do make chargers for multiple batts. Of course that will be triple the price.
racerjoe is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-15-2012, 02:48 PM   #5
Art-n-Marge
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Murrieta
Posts: 5,816
M.O.C. #9257
Send a message via MSN to Art-n-Marge Send a message via Yahoo to Art-n-Marge
I can't recall the actual limit on my charger but I do know there is one and when I last checked, using it for my two batteries was acceptable (not three). Maybe if you post the brand/model of the charger/conditioner you used we can help you hunt for the limit to see if that was a possible cause.

I've heard Schulmberger makes some pretty good stuff. I saw guy using a portable Schlumberger automotive car starter and it was awesome! Expensive, but awesome. This one cost about $200 but held a charge for months. He had it in his trunk and used it to easily remote start my big Mercedes Benz.

This is something you should report to them whether or not you were using it correctly. They might be able to improve their products if someone uses it wrong, like shuts it down and has an indicator instead of melting things and being a fire hazard. Working for high tech companies in the past, many times there was a great effort to develop a product so that it does not create bigger problems when used incorrectly or when it fails. Maybe this might be one of those companies that would be interested.
Art-n-Marge is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-16-2012, 02:48 AM   #6
Ozz
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: K.C.
Posts: 11,731
M.O.C. #5980
restez,
Could this be a Schumacher instead of a Schlumberger?
I own 6 of these for my various generators, mowers tractor and truck. Mine all work great, but I don't use them on 6 volt batteries. I use ring conncetors to securely attach the wires. I did some research and found this site that evaluated battery maintainers, this guy contacted the service tech, the following is his report: (I think they guy had a brak-down at the end of his report..)
I still would go with a loose wire and possibly the wrong maintainer for the 6 volt batteries.

Purchased this charger to charge/maintain my deep cycle battery utilized for emergency energy outages. The manual incorporated with this charger even describes it charging deep cycle batteries and gives a charging estimate of ~36hrs. Fine for what I’m trying to find. The charger repeatedly aborted the charge on my brand-new battery. Their client service tech mentioned it wasn’t meant to charge deep cycle batteries as a result of the increased internal resistance. This should have already been made more clear inside the packaging, labelling and item description. I’ve lost time and income. Now I’ve to go buy a ‘real’ charger…
The charger was actually DOA. I returned it and replaced the charger with a new 1 on an auto-shop recommendation. It is working fine. Schumacher did not need to very own as much as a bum charger when I known as them earlier.
http://www.batterychargerreviewz.inf...maintainer.htm
Ozz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2012, 01:56 AM   #7
Leaseit
Montana Fan
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Lawrenceville
Posts: 279
M.O.C. #5356
I always look at a charger as a short time usage device. Something that i am going to be around while its charging in case something starts to have a problem. Having said that, i always install fuses in line just in case some problem starts to develope. I have seen to many wires toasted and burnt and i would rahter blow a fuse than find burnt wires or a possable fire.

Randy
Leaseit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-20-2012, 02:31 AM   #8
steelpony5555
Montana Master
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Copperas Cove
Posts: 1,426
M.O.C. #12096
I would plug the trailer in. If it is overcharging your batteries then you already have a problem that needs taken care of. My trailer stays plugged in 24/7 and has its own pedistal. Plugging in to battery tenders etc are just one more link in the chain of things that can go wrong.
steelpony5555 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Scare light Husker92 Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help 14 07-23-2016 07:34 PM
outside scare lights jcurtis934 Montana Problems, Problem Solving & Technical Help 4 02-19-2015 03:41 AM
Scare lights SlickWillie General Discussions about our Montanas 4 12-03-2009 04:25 PM
FORMALDEHYDE SCARE Journeyon Member News 10 08-12-2007 07:10 AM
Scare Lights Montana_2753 Additions & Improvements 25 03-11-2005 02:33 PM

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Montana RV, Keystone RV Company or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 01:41 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.